Sid Sharkey
Sidney Denis “S.D.” Sharkey was born in 1866 at Mudgee, New South Wales, the son of Denis and Sarah Sharkey. He later came to Lightning Ridge in the early years of the opal rush.
By 1906 Sharkey was established at Old Town, where he opened a combined shop, hairdressing salon, and billiard room. He advertised men’s mercery (textiles) and tobacco amusements. His shopfront was one of the first substantial galvanised iron buildings at Lightning Ridge. Meetings of the Progress Association (of which Sharkey was secretary from its foundation in 1907) were often held in his premises.
Sharkey petitioned the Department of Public Works for a government tank and promoted the advancement of the town. In February 1909 he was present when Miss Rawson, daughter of the Governor of New South Wales, visited Lightning Ridge. On behalf of the miners, he presented her with a black opal, supplied by Ted Bishop.
Early in 1909 Sharkey applied for a Western Lands lease in the New Town. Shortly afterward he sold his Old Town business to Harry Leonard.
Sid Sharkey died in September 1909 at the Home of Peace Hospital, Marrickville, aged 43, and was buried at the Church of England Cemetery, Rookwood Necropolis. His obituary described him as “late Storekeeper of Lightning Ridge”.
Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge: The Land of Black Opals, Ion L. Idriess, 1940, pp. 114-115; The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, pp. 107-108, 186, 221-222, 224, Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 16; Lightning Flash Newspaper, 10 May 1979; Walgett Spectator, 2 March 1907, 20 February 1909, 18 June 1909, 24 September 1909; ‘Family Notices’, Daily Telegraph, 12 May 1909, p. 16.